Auto-generation of application programming interface (api) documentation via implementation-neutral analysis of api traffic

ABSTRACT

A method of API documentation generation includes receiving an API interaction, determining at least one interaction parameter based on the API interaction, and automatically generating the documentation based on the at least one interaction parameter. The generated documentation documents an action associated with the API interaction.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Application programming interfaces (APIs) facilitate usage of underlyingcomputing tools by defining input to the computing tool such that thetool may be used without revealing implementation details of the tool.Sometimes documentation, which is a description of how an API functions,is provided with the API to facilitate use of the API. Whetherdocumentation is provided for an API or the quality of the documentationprovided for an API can affect its usage and popularity with users.Conventional techniques of API documentation are costly, insufficientlydescriptive, or incompatible with legacy APIs, thus discouraging use ofassociated APIs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the followingdetailed description and the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a system forgenerating API documentation.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a system forgenerating API documentation.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forgenerating API documentation.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forgenerating API documentation for undocumented API interactions.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forgenerating API documentation based on feedback.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forauditing the quality of API documentation.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forgenerating API documentation and providing an alert.

FIG. 7 is a functional diagram illustrating a programmed computer systemfor generation of API documentation in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of APIdocumentation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as aprocess; an apparatus; a system; a composition of matter; a computerprogram product embodied on a computer readable storage medium; and/or aprocessor, such as a processor configured to execute instructions storedon and/or provided by a memory coupled to the processor. In thisspecification, these implementations, or any other form that theinvention may take, may be referred to as techniques. In general, theorder of the steps of disclosed processes may be altered within thescope of the invention. Unless stated otherwise, a component such as aprocessor or a memory described as being configured to perform a taskmay be implemented as a general component that is temporarily configuredto perform the task at a given time or a specific component that ismanufactured to perform the task. As used herein, the term ‘processor’refers to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing coresconfigured to process data, such as computer program instructions.

A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the invention isprovided below along with accompanying figures that illustrate theprinciples of the invention. The invention is described in connectionwith such embodiments, but the invention is not limited to anyembodiment. The scope of the invention is limited only by the claims andthe invention encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications andequivalents. Numerous specific details are set forth in the followingdescription in order to provide a thorough understanding of theinvention. These details are provided for the purpose of example and theinvention may be practiced according to the claims without some or allof these specific details. For the purpose of clarity, technicalmaterial that is known in the technical fields related to the inventionhas not been described in detail so that the invention is notunnecessarily obscured.

Documentation about an application programming interface (API) may beprovided to facilitate usage of the API. If documentation is notprovided or is unclear, there may be many repercussions. For example,breaking changes that are undocumented may cause frustration because theAPI does not perform as expected. If users do not understand how the APIshould be used, they may be reluctant to use the API. It may bedifficult for humans to manage API documentation alone, e.g., if thereare numerous APIs requiring documentation. For example, legacy APIs thathave not been previously well-documented may be difficult for humans tolater document.

Conventionally, some documentation and test consoles are provided withan API. However, this may be inadequate for a user of the API. If thedocumentation is inadequate, users of the API may find it difficult touse the API, e.g., to automate the user's own systems. Typically, APIproviders select between three techniques for generating APIdocumentation: developer-generated documentation, writer-generateddocumentation, and code-generated documentation. Developer-generateddocumentation relies on API programmers who develop APIs to generatedocumentation for the APIs. The documentation generated by theprogrammers themselves can be too technical, not have enough detail, andbe infrequently updated, e.g., if programmers prioritize coding overwriting documentation. Writer-generated documentation refers todocumentation that is written and maintained by technical writers.Typically, this type of documentation requires a clean handoff from theengineering team and is costly because a dedicated writing teamgenerates the documentation. Code-generated documentation refers todocumentation that is derived automatically from API code. For example,the API code may be annotated with developer-focused information for aninternal audience. Although this type of documentation may be performedautomatically, it is often very technical and not suitable for externalconsumption due to proprietary information or jargon. For example,different languages may have different annotation conventions that mightbe familiar to only those fluent in a particular language.

Regardless of how they are generated, conventional documentation may beinadequate. For example, static documentation may be less intelligiblethan interactive documentation. As another example, many documentationtechniques do not accommodate legacy APIs. A Swagger specification (alsoknown as OpenAPI specification) is a type of human-readable andmachine-readable specification that provides both documentation andautomation ability for APIs. Swagger is a specification formachine-readable interface files for describing, producing, consuming,and visualizing RESTful web services. However, Swagger specifications donot accommodate legacy APIs. In some user environments and systems,numerous (on the order of tens of thousands) of APIs are legacy APIsthat have not been properly documented. For example, the documentationmay be stale, inaccurate, and/or incomplete. The legacy APIs may stillbe usable and valuable, but users are reluctant to use them becausedocumentation, if any, for the legacy APIs is inadequate.

As another example, some conventional techniques may generatedocumentation automatically if curl commands are provided. For example,according to typical conventional techniques, curl commands are manuallyformed and documentation may be generated therefrom. This means that thedocumentation process is not fully automated because a human needs toform a curl command in order to generate the documentation process.Multiple curl commands may need to be formulated for each API request,making this a tedious process.

There are numerous benefits to well-documented APIs. For example, a gooddocumentation for API is intelligible, succinct, descriptive, and bothhuman-readable (meaningful to developers and lay-people) andmachine-readable. API documentation that is human-readable allowsdevelopers and other users to understand API request/response inputs andbehaviors. API documentation that is machine-readable allows programs togenerate applications and test suites. Machine-readable documentationalso facilitates integration of APIs into various systems andinfrastructure. Documentation of APIs affects user experience, and APIsthat are well-documented are well-received and more likely to be adoptedand used. Clear documentation may be associated with stability andconfidence in the use of APIs.

Automatic generation of API documentation via implementation-neutralanalysis of API traffic is disclosed. In one aspect, well-documenteddocumentation may be conveniently and automatically generated inreal-time or based on logged API traffic. In another aspect, theanalysis of API traffic is implementation-neutral meaning that theanalysis may be performed for various types of languages andimplementations. In various embodiment, a method of API documentationgeneration includes receiving an API interaction, determining at leastone interaction parameter based on the API interaction, andautomatically generating the documentation based on the at least oneinteraction parameter. The generated documentation documents an actionassociated with the API interaction.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a system forgenerating API documentation. The system 100 includes an API gateway 110and an analyzer 120.

The API gateway 110 is configured to observe, receive, and/or handle APIrequests. In various embodiments, the API gateway receives an APIrequest, forwards the API request to the backend API, and relays aresponse to the API request. The API gateway may intercept informationprovided to terminal 102 in association with the API request. The APIgateway may determine operations to perform and resources to obtainbased on the API request. The API gateway may parse an API request todetermine requested operations and data to be obtained from backend API140.

The analyzer 120 is configured to generate API documentation based ontraffic data. The API documentation may be generated based on livetraffic data or on previously stored traffic data. In some embodiments,the analyzer generates documentation based on traffic data observed aspart of proxying logic. In one aspect, API documentation can begenerated while the API is being developed or observed. In anotheraspect, API documentation can be generated for previously-developed APIsincluding legacy APIs. In some embodiments, the analyzer generatesdocumentation based on data obtained from complementary data sourcessuch as existing code and/or API definitions. The complementary datasources may enhance automatically-generated API documentation by usingexisting information about the API. For example, complementary data suchas engineering documented code may be merged into the APIauto-generation process to, among other things, validate auto-generateddocumentation against engineering specified documentation or enrichingauto-generated documentation with more technical descriptions found inthe code.

In various embodiments, the analyzer 120 collects data based on an APIinteraction such as an API request or response. For example, from an APIrequest, the analyzer 120 is configured to collect hostname, HTTPmethod, security protocol used, if any (e.g., TLS), authentication type,request path, parameters such as URI and POST body, or the like. From anAPI response, the analyzer 120 may be configured to collect: responsecode, response message, response data, or the like. The analyzer 120 maycollect data by determining the grammatical structure of an APIinteraction such as the structure of the request and any verbs orrequested actions included in the API interaction.

In various embodiments, the analyzer 120 deduces API documentation databased on information from the API interaction. For example, from an APIrequest, the analyzer 120 is configured to determine request parametertypes, whether a request parameter is option or required, content type,security type, or the like. From an API response, the analyzer 120 maybe configured to determine response data scheme or the like.

The analyzer 120 is configured to generate and/or update APIdocumentation. In various embodiments, the API documentation 104includes metadata about API interactions such as description of thefunctions of an API. In various embodiments, the API documentationdocuments an action associated with an API interaction. The APIdocumentation may provide advice about errors such as runtime errors,changes to APIs, and the like. The API documentation may facilitate useof the API.

In various embodiments, the analyzer 120 is configured to generateand/or update API documentation according to the processes describedherein. For example, an API interaction may be observed andautomatically documented according to the process of FIG. 2. APIdocumentation may be updated to cover previously undocumented APIinteractions according to the process of FIG. 3. API documentation maybe automatically generated and updated based on feedback according tothe process of FIG. 4. Automatically generated API documentation may beused to audit the quality of existing manual API documentation accordingto the process of FIG. 5. Changes to API documentation may be identifiedand alerts issued based on the changes according to the process of FIG.6.

The backend API 140 is a backend interface that interfaces with the APIgateway. For example, the backend API 140 may be in the control ofanother user such as a customer. The backend API is configured toservice API requests received via API gateway 110 by forwarding therequests to backend computing modules. For example, the backend API mayinvoke portions of a backend system (not shown) to carry out operationsto service the API request. In some embodiments, the backend API mayparse the API request and determine relevant resources to obtain andreturn based on the API request. The backend API may be deployed in acloud or on-site at a customer's location.

In operation, client 102 makes a call (e.g., interacts with an API suchas making an API request). The API gateway 110 observes the call,forward the call for processing, and analyzer 120 automaticallygenerates API documentation according to one or more of the processesdescribed herein. For example, an API gateway receives an API requestfrom the client, services the API request based on a backend API, andprovides an API response. Responsive to receiving the API request, theAPI gateway forwards the API request to an analyzer 120. In someembodiments, the analyzer observes interactions between the API gatewayand the backend API. The analyzer processes the API request, e.g.,determining request data and/or response data, and automaticallyproduces API documentation that is both machine-readable andhuman-readable.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a system forgenerating API documentation. The system includes an API gateway 110, ananalyzer 120, and a backend API 140. The system includes the samemodules as those in system 100 of FIG. 1A unless otherwise describedherein.

In the example shown in FIG. 1B, API interactions observed by the APIgateway 110 include an API request and response. An API request is “curl‘https://api.example.com/v1/products’ -X POST -d ‘{“name”: “Blue Shoe”,“price”: 33.33}’”. This API request creates product information, andsubmits data to be processed by backend API 140. For example, whenproduct information is created, a corresponding entry is stored in adatabase. The curl command combines HTML, scripting, and computing(e.g., Java, C++, etc.).

The API gateway 110 receives this API request, and may service thisrequest and return an API response using the backend API 140. In thisexample, the API response is “{“id”: 124131, “name”: “Blue Shoe”,“price”: 33.33, “created”: “2017-05-01 00:23:44”}”.

The API gateway may forward the API interaction (here, a request andresponse) to analyzer 120. The analyzer may determine the interactiondata (here, request data and response data) shown in Table 1 below.

TABLE 1 Request Data Response Data Host: api.example.com Errors: NoneMethod: POST Fields: JSON->id{Long}, Params: JSON->name{String},name{String}, price{Decimal} price{Decimal}, created{DateTime}

Based on the determined request data and response data, the analyzer 120generates API documentation 104. In various embodiments, analyzer 120 isfurther configured to update API documentation and/or generate an alertif a change is detected.

Although the example shown in FIG. 1B shows a single API request, inother embodiments, the API gateway may handle a plurality of APIrequests. A plurality of API requests may be received sequentially orsubstantially simultaneously and may be from one or more sources.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forgenerating API documentation. The process of FIG. 2 may be at least inpart implemented on one or more components of analyzer 120 shown in FIG.1A. In some embodiments, the process is performed by processor 702 shownin FIG. 7.

At 202, an API interaction is received. The API interaction may includeany type of interaction with an API such as an API request and/or an APIresponse. Referring to the example shown in FIG. 1B, one type of APIinteraction is an API request: “curl‘https://api.example.com/v1/products’ -X POST -d ‘{“name”: “Blue Shoe”,“price”: 33.33}’”. Another type of API interaction is an API response:“{“id”: 124131, “name”: “Blue Shoe”, “price”: 33.33, “created”:“2017-05-01 00:23:44”}.”

At 204, one or more interaction parameters are determined based on theAPI interaction. In various embodiments, the API interaction is analyzedto determine the interaction parameter(s). The API interaction may beparsed to determine parameters such as syntactical elements, flags,content, and other attributes. By way of non-limiting example, data thatcan be determined from an API request includes hostname, HTTP method,security, authentication type, request path (e.g., products requested),and parameters. For example, the hostname may be determined by readinguntil the end of a string in the API request, where the string that isread is in an expected position in the request. That is, if a format ofa request is expected to include the hostname in the first position,then the first string is parsed to determine the name of the host.Specific types of interaction parameters may be determined for specifictypes of API interactions. For example, request parameters may bedetermined from API requests and response parameters may be determinedfrom API responses.

Referring to the example API request shown in FIG. 1B, based on “curl‘https://api.example.com/v1/products’ -X POST -d ‘{“name”: “Blue Shoe”,“price”: 33.33}’,” the following interaction parameters can bedetermined and/or derived. In the example of FIG. 1B, analyzer 120determines by parsing the API request that the hostname is“api.example.com,” the HTTP method is “POST,” and the parameters are“JSON->name{String}” and “price{Decimal}.” In this example, security,authentication type, and request path are not determined. In variousembodiments, determination of authentication type includes determiningauthentication protocols used such as OAuth, key and secret pair, APIkey, and the like. By way of non-limiting example, data that can bedetermined from an API response includes response code including errors,response message, and response data.

Referring to the example API response shown in FIG. 1B, based on “{“id”:124131, “name”: “Blue Shoe”, “price”: 33.33, “created”: “2017-05-0100:23:44”},” the following interaction parameters can be determinedand/or derived. In the example of FIG. 1B, analyzer 120 determines byparsing the API response that there are no errors, and the response dataincludes the following created fields: “JSON->id{Long},” “name{String},”“price{Decimal},” “created{DateTime}.” In this example, the API responsedid not include any errors. This may be determined from an HTTP statuscode such as 200 or other 200-series success codes. If there is anerror, this may be determined from HTTP status codes such as 400 badrequest, 404 not found, and other 400 series status codes.

In various embodiments, the determination of interaction parameters(204) includes deducing information based on API requests and responses.That is, information may be determined using the parsed requests andresponses, which information might not be readily apparent from a simpleparsing of the requests and responses. For example, request parametertypes may be determined. The request parameter types include string,decimal, date/time, and other formats. The types may be recognized fromthe API request content. Referring to the example shown in FIG. 1B,based on the API response “{“id”: 124131, “name”: “Blue Shoe”, “price”:33.33, “created”: “2017-05-01 00:23:44”},” the parameter type for “name”: “Blue Shoe” is a string, the parameter type for “price”: “33.33” is adecimal, and the parameter type for “created”: “2017-05-01 00:23:44” isa time stamp of format Date, Time.

Another type of information that may be deduced is whether a requestparameter is optional or required. This may be determined based onmetadata provided in form fields or by observing a series of APIrequests. If a number (e.g., threshold number) of API responsescorresponding to those requests are successful despite missing aparameter, then it may be deduced that the parameter is not required.

Another type of information that may be deduced is the type of contentassociated with an API request. Content types include XML, JSON, and thelike. The content type, which may not be explicitly stated in the APIrequest or response, may be deduced based on language patterns or themanner in which parameters are furnished in the API request.

Another type of information that may be deduced is security type orprotocol. For example, if an API request includes a key, token, or othersecurity mechanism, the security type may be deduced. In variousembodiments, an API gateway (e.g., API gateway 110 of FIG. 1A) is partof a security infrastructure of a system and in a privileged position toobserve API interactions including security protocols utilized.

Another type of information that may be deduced is a response dataschema based on an API response. Using the example of RESTful APIs, aJSON schema may indicate what properties are in objects that will bereturned by the RESTful API. For example, the schema may indicate namesof properties that will be returned such as title and data type. Theschema may include information such as whether a particular property isrequired, whether the object is a key, lengths and formats of content,and the like. In various embodiments, the determination of the responsedata schema allows the determination of related objects or nestedproperties such as relationships and structures including nested objectsand arrays. For example, the determination of the schema can includedetecting that a related object is in the response, which may in turnprompt the definition of a sub-object schema. The definition of thesub-object schema allows determination of the presence of same objectschema in other API responses.

Overall trends and statistics may be determined by observing APIinteractions. In various embodiments, a group of API interactions may beanalyzed to determine trends or statistics for that group. If severalAPI responses include error messages, the corresponding API requests maybe analyzed to determine any commonalities and the commonalities may beprovided in the API documentation to facilitate determination of a causeof the error messages.

An analyzer may improve at deducing information over time as it observesmore traffic. For example, when observing breaking changes to code, ananalyzer may learn to recognize a signature of the breaking change toidentify this particular type of error. In various embodiments, theanalyzer may be trained by machine learning techniques such assupervised learning to improve its analytical abilities.

At 206, API documentation is generated based on the interactionparameter(s). The API documentation includes documentation of an actionassociated with an API interaction such as a description of how an APIinteraction can be used and/or how an API functions. For example, thedocumentation generated may include definitions and/or descriptors forthe determined interaction parameters. Referring to the example shown inFIG. 1B, documentation generated may include descriptors for thedetermined parameters. For example, based on the request data “Method:Post,” a description may be generated. The description may be generatedbased on various techniques such as natural language processing, lookingup the definition of the method definition in a library, and the like.The description such as “POST is a method to generate a data resourcepath indicating with what a requestor is interacting” may be included inthe documentation. In various embodiments, the API documentation is bothhuman-readable and machine-readable. The API documentation may begenerated in real time as new API interactions are observed. An exampleof an automatically-generated API documentation is shown in FIG. 8.

In some embodiments, the API documentation is automatically generatedbased on API interactions without requiring human intervention. In someembodiments, the API documentation can be reviewed and modified based onfeedback such as feedback provided by a human. An example processincluding human review of API documentation is shown in FIG. 4.

In some embodiments, the API documentation may be generated in real timeor substantially simultaneously with API requests and responses as theyare made. In some embodiments, the API documentation may be generatedbased on logged API traffic for legacy APIs.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forgenerating API documentation for undocumented API interactions. Theprocess of FIG. 3 may be at least in part implemented on one or morecomponents of system 100 shown in FIG. 1A. For example, the process maybe performed by analyzer 120 in conjunction with API gateway 110. Insome embodiments, the process is performed by processor 702 shown inFIG. 7.

At 302, an API interaction is observed. The API interaction may includeany type of interaction with an API such as an API request and/or an APIresponse. Example API responses and requests are shown in FIG. 1B. Invarious embodiments, API gateway 110 of FIG. 1A observes APIinteractions. One or more API interactions may be forwarded to analyzer120 for further analysis.

At 304, it is determined whether an undocumented API interaction hasbeen detected. In various embodiments, analyzer 120 of FIG. 1A isconfigured to detect undocumented API interactions. For example,analyzer 120 stores previously-documented API interactions and, when anew API interaction is received, analyzer 120 compares the new APIinteraction with the log of previously-documented API interactions todetermine whether there is a match. If there is a match, then the newAPI interaction has been previously-documented and is determined to be adocumented API interaction. Otherwise, the API interaction is determinedto be undocumented.

If an undocumented API interaction is detected, the process proceeds togenerate new API documentation (306). The new API documentationcorresponds to the undocumented API interaction. The API interaction oran identifier of the API interaction may be stored to note that the APIinteraction has been documented. Otherwise, if no undocumented APIinteraction is detected, the process returns to 302 in which APIinteractions are observed.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forgenerating API documentation based on feedback. The process of FIG. 4may be at least in part implemented on one or more components of system100 shown in FIG. 1A. For example, the process may be performed byanalyzer 120 in conjunction with API gateway 110. In some embodiments,the process is performed by processor 702 shown in FIG. 7.

At 402, an API interaction is received. The API interaction may includeany type of interaction with an API such as an API request and/or an APIresponse. Example API responses and requests are shown in FIG. 1B.Examples of receiving or observing an API interaction are 202 of FIGS. 2and 302 of FIG. 3.

At 404, one or more interaction parameters are determined based on theAPI interaction. The API interaction may be parsed to determinesyntactical elements, content, and other attributes. An example ofdetermining interaction parameter(s) is further described with respectto 204 of FIG. 2.

At 406, API documentation is generated based on the interactionparameter(s). The API documentation includes a description of how an APIinteraction can be used. For example, the documentation generated mayinclude definitions and/or descriptors for the determined interactionparameters. An example of generating API documentation is furtherdescribed with respect to 206 of FIG. 2.

At 408, feedback for the API documentation is received. The feedback maybe provided by an external entity such as another documentationgenerator or by a user. In various embodiments, the feedback is based onhuman review of the API documentation. For example, a reviewer mayprovide feedback about the API documentation such as whether the APIdocumentation is accurate. The reviewer may annotate or edit (e.g., addor remove) portions of the generated API documentation.

At 410, the API documentation is updated based on the feedback. Forexample, the API documentation may be posted to a repository. In variousembodiments, the feedback may be used to improve automatic generation ofAPI documentation. For example, the feedback may be used as part of avalidation set to train a machine learning model to improve theautomatic documentation of API interactions.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forauditing the quality of API documentation. The process of FIG. 5 may beat least in part implemented on one or more components of system 100shown in FIG. 1A. For example, the process may be performed by analyzer120. In some embodiments, the process is performed by processor 702shown in FIG. 7.

At 502, documentation is received. The documentation may be manuallygenerated or generated by another system. For example, the documentationmay be legacy documentation of an API made by conventional methods suchas by a technical writer, developer, or other system. The quality of thedocumentation may be evaluated as follows.

At 504, an API interaction is observed. The API interaction may includeany type of interaction with an API such as an API request and/or an APIresponse. Example API responses and requests are shown in FIG. 1B.Examples of receiving or observing an API interaction are 202 of FIG. 2,302 of FIGS. 3, and 402 of FIG. 4.

At 506, API documentation is generated based on the observed APIinteraction. The API documentation includes a description of how an APIinteraction can be used. For example, the documentation generated mayinclude definitions and/or descriptors for the determined interactionparameters. The API documentation may be generated by identifying one ormore interaction parameters based on the observed API interaction. Anexample of generating API documentation is further described withrespect to 206 of FIG. 2.

At 508, it is determined whether the received documentation matches thegenerated documentation. For example, syntactical elements from eachdocumentation may be compared to determine whether there is a match. Ifthe received documentation matches the generated API documentation, theprocess may return to 504 in which additional API interactions areobserved.

Otherwise, if the received documentation does not match the generatedAPI documentation, the process proceeds to 510 in which the receiveddocumentation is updated. At least a portion of the receiveddocumentation may be updated with the generated documentation such thatthe received documentation is more accurate. The received documentationmay be posted to storage. In one aspect, the process of FIG. 5 iscompatible with existing documentation processes and may augmentexisting processing by making additive or corrective edits to existingdocumentation. In another aspect, the quality of existing documentationsuch as manual documentation may be audited by comparing withlive-traffic generated documentation (506).

In some embodiments, if the received documentation does not match (insome cases, does not match within a threshold tolerance) the generateddocumentation, then the received documentation may be scoredaccordingly. The score of the received documentation may be used toidentify the quality of the documentation. For example, if the receiveddocumentation does not match the generated documentation, a lower scoreis assigned to the received documentation indicating lower quality.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a process forgenerating API documentation and providing an alert. The process of FIG.6 may be at least in part implemented on one or more components ofsystem 100 shown in FIG. 1A. For example, the process may be performedby analyzer 120 in conjunction with API gateway 110. In someembodiments, the process is performed by processor 702 shown in FIG. 7.

At 602, an API interaction is observed. The API interaction may includeany type of interaction with an API such as an API request and/or an APIresponse. Example API responses and requests are shown in FIG. 1B.Examples of receiving or observing an API interaction are 202 of FIG. 2,302 of FIG. 3, 402 of FIGS. 4, and 504 of FIG. 5.

At 604, API documentation is generated based on the observed APIinteraction. The API documentation includes a description of how an APIinteraction can be used. For example, the documentation generated mayinclude definitions and/or descriptors for the determined interactionparameters. The API documentation may be generated by identifying one ormore interaction parameters based on the observed API interaction. Anexample of generating API documentation is further described withrespect to 206 of FIG. 2.

At 606, it is determined whether a change is observed. By way ofnon-limiting example, changes include new or additive changes, errors,and API interactions that were not previously observed. A change may beobserved in an API response. For example, changes in underlyingfunctions in an API cause an API response to the same API request tochange. Suppose that previously an API request caused one parameter tobe returned in the API response, and now the same API request causes twoparameters to be returned in the API response. This type of change canbe documented by updating the API documentation.

If a change is observed at 606, the process proceeds to 608, in which analert is output. The alert may be provided to a user in various formatsincluding those indicated by the user to be preferable. For example, thealert may be an email, SMS, visual or audio alert on a user interface,and the like. In various embodiments, if a change is observed, the APIdocumentation is updated accordingly. Otherwise, if a change is notobserved, the process returns to 602 to observe API interaction(s). Thatis, the process includes identifying changes to API documentation andprovide an alert if there is a change. For example, when a new releaseof an API has occurred, an alert may be generated. As another example,if the addition of new parameters is detected, an alert may begenerated. As another example, if an error rate associated with an APIcall meets a threshold (or trends change over time), an alert may begenerated. An alert enables an administrator to communicate directlywith a developer. In some instances, this allows an error to be detectedearlier compared with conventional systems.

FIG. 7 is a functional diagram illustrating a programmed computer systemfor generation of API documentation in accordance with some embodiments.As will be apparent, other computer system architectures andconfigurations can be used to perform the described API documentationgeneration technique. Computer system 700, which includes varioussubsystems as described below, includes at least one microprocessorsubsystem (also referred to as a processor or a central processing unit(CPU) 702). For example, processor 702 can be implemented by asingle-chip processor or by multiple processors. In some embodiments,processor 702 is a general purpose digital processor that controls theoperation of the computer system 700. In some embodiments, processor 702also includes one or more coprocessors or special purpose processors(e.g., a graphics processor, a network processor, etc.). Usinginstructions retrieved from memory 710, processor 702 controls thereception and manipulation of input data received on an input device(e.g., image processing device 706, I/O device interface 704), and theoutput and display of data on output devices (e.g., display 718).

Processor 702 is coupled bi-directionally with memory 710, which caninclude, for example, one or more random access memories (RAM) and/orone or more read-only memories (ROM). As is well known in the art,memory 710 can be used as a general storage area, a temporary (e.g.,scratch pad) memory, and/or a cache memory. Memory 710 can also be usedto store input data and processed data, as well as to store programminginstructions and data, in the form of data objects and text objects, inaddition to other data and instructions for processes operating onprocessor 702. Also as is well known in the art, memory 710 typicallyincludes basic operating instructions, program code, data, and objectsused by the processor 702 to perform its functions (e.g., programmedinstructions). For example, memory 710 can include any suitable computerreadable storage media described below, depending on whether, forexample, data access needs to be bi-directional or uni-directional. Forexample, processor 702 can also directly and very rapidly retrieve andstore frequently needed data in a cache memory included in memory 710.

A removable mass storage device 712 provides additional data storagecapacity for the computer system 700, and is optionally coupled eitherbi-directionally (read/write) or uni-directionally (read only) toprocessor 702. A fixed mass storage 720 can also, for example, provideadditional data storage capacity. For example, storage devices 712and/or 720 can include computer readable media such as magnetic tape,flash memory, PC-CARDS, portable mass storage devices such as harddrives (e.g., magnetic, optical, or solid state drives), holographicstorage devices, and other storage devices. Mass storages 712 and/or 720generally store additional programming instructions, data, and the likethat typically are not in active use by the processor 702. It will beappreciated that the information retained within mass storages 712 and720 can be incorporated, if needed, in standard fashion as part ofmemory 710 (e.g., RAM) as virtual memory.

In addition to providing processor 702 access to storage subsystems, bus714 can be used to provide access to other subsystems and devices aswell. As shown, these can include a display 718, a network interface708, an input/output (I/O) device interface 704, an image processingdevice 706, as well as other subsystems and devices. For example, imageprocessing device 706 can include a camera, a scanner, etc.; I/O deviceinterface 704 can include a device interface for interacting with atouchscreen (e.g., a capacitive touch sensitive screen that supportsgesture interpretation), a microphone, a sound card, a speaker, akeyboard, a pointing device (e.g., a mouse, a stylus, a human finger), aGlobal Positioning System (GPS) receiver, an accelerometer, and/or anyother appropriate device interface for interacting with system 700.Multiple I/O device interfaces can be used in conjunction with computersystem 700. The I/O device interface can include general and customizedinterfaces that allow the processor 702 to send and, more typically,receive data from other devices such as keyboards, pointing devices,microphones, touchscreens, transducer card readers, tape readers, voiceor handwriting recognizers, biometrics readers, cameras, portable massstorage devices, and other computers.

The network interface 708 allows processor 702 to be coupled to anothercomputer, computer network, or telecommunications network using anetwork connection as shown. For example, through the network interface708, the processor 702 can receive information (e.g., data objects orprogram instructions) from another network, or output information toanother network in the course of performing method/process steps.Information, often represented as a sequence of instructions to beexecuted on a processor, can be received from and outputted to anothernetwork. An interface card or similar device and appropriate softwareimplemented by (e.g., executed/performed on) processor 702 can be usedto connect the computer system 700 to an external network and transferdata according to standard protocols. For example, various processembodiments disclosed herein can be executed on processor 702, or can beperformed across a network such as the Internet, intranet networks, orlocal area networks, in conjunction with a remote processor that sharesa portion of the processing. Additional mass storage devices (not shown)can also be connected to processor 702 through network interface 708.

In addition, various embodiments disclosed herein further relate tocomputer storage products with a computer readable medium that includesprogram code for performing various computer-implemented operations. Thecomputer readable medium includes any data storage device that can storedata which can thereafter be read by a computer system. Examples ofcomputer readable media include, but are not limited to: magnetic mediasuch as disks and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks;magneto-optical media such as optical disks; and specially configuredhardware devices such as application-specific integrated circuits(ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), and ROM and RAM devices.Examples of program code include both machine code as produced, forexample, by a compiler, or files containing higher level code (e.g.,script) that can be executed using an interpreter.

The computer system shown in FIG. 7 is but an example of a computersystem suitable for use with the various embodiments disclosed herein.Other computer systems suitable for such use can include additional orfewer subsystems. In some computer systems, subsystems can sharecomponents (e.g., for touchscreen-based devices such as smart phones,tablets, etc., I/O device interface 704 and display 718 share the touchsensitive screen component, which both detects user inputs and displaysoutputs to the user). In addition, bus 714 is illustrative of anyinterconnection scheme serving to link the subsystems. Other computerarchitectures having different configurations of subsystems can also beutilized.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of APIdocumentation. The API documentation may be automatically generatedbased on the first and second requests shown. The API documentationsystem may be generated by the processes described herein. In thisexample, in response to receiving the first call, “curl‘https://api.example.com/v1/products’ -X POST -d ‘{“name”: “Blue Shoe”,“price”: 33.33},” the corresponding portion (name and price properties)in the API documentation is automatically generated. In response toreceiving the second call, “curl ‘https://api.example.com/v1/products’-X POST -d ‘{“name”: “Red Shoe”, “price”: 43.33, “sale”: true,“discount”:0.25}’,” the corresponding portion (sale and discountproperties) of the API documentation is automatically generated.

The API documentation is updated accordingly. The API documentation maybe continuously updated with new resources, properties, characteristics,and the like. In the example shown in FIG. 8, the sale and discountproperties are first seen in the second request and not the firstrequest.

The techniques described herein provide many advantages overconventional API documentation techniques. In one aspect, documentationcreation, including documentation of legacy APIs is automated. Inanother aspect, the processes described herein are compatible withexisting documentation processes, allowing conventional documentationtechniques to be augmented by additive or corrective edits. Theprocesses described herein are also compatible with existing securityframeworks, and can easily be incorporated into current infrastructures.In yet another aspect, the quality of existing documentation strategiessuch as manual documentation can be audited by comparing existingdocumentation to live-traffic versions generated according to theprocesses described herein.

Although the foregoing embodiments have been described in some detailfor purposes of clarity of understanding, the invention is not limitedto the details provided. There are many alternative ways of implementingthe invention. The disclosed embodiments are illustrative and notrestrictive.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving an applicationprogramming interface (API) interaction, wherein the receiving includesreceiving an API request from a user and an API response from an APIbackend, wherein the API response is generated in response to the APIrequest; determining, by a processor, at least one interaction parameterbased on the API interaction, wherein the determining includesdetermining at least one request parameter and at least one responseparameter; and automatically generating, by the processor, documentationbased on the at least one interaction parameter that includes the atleast one request parameter and the at least one response parameter,wherein the documentation documents an action associated with the APIinteraction that includes the API request and the API response. 2.(canceled)
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one requestparameter includes whether a request parameter is optional or required.4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one request parameterincludes at least one of hostname, Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP)method, security, authentication type, and request path.
 5. (canceled)6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one response parameterincludes a response code, response, message, and response data.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the at least one response parameter isderived from the API interaction.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein theat least one response parameter includes a request parameter type. 9.The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one response parameterincludes a response data schema.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein theAPI interaction corresponds to a legacy API.
 11. The method of claim 1,wherein at least one of the determination of the at least oneinteraction parameter is performed in real time.
 12. The method of claim1, wherein the generation of the documentation is performed in a sameruntime session as the receipt of the API interaction.
 13. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the determination of the at least one interactionparameter includes parsing the API interaction.
 14. The method of claim1, wherein the at least one interaction parameter is derived from theAPI interaction.
 15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:subsequent to receiving the API interaction, receiving a second APIinteraction, wherein the second API interaction is for an API differentfrom the API interaction; and automatically generating, by theprocessor, a second documentation based on the second API interaction.16. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving auditdocumentation; comparing the audit documentation with the automaticallygenerated documentation; and responsive to a determining of a mismatchbetween the audit documentation and the automatically generateddocumentation, updating the audit documentation.
 17. The method of claim1, further comprising triggering an automated work-flow based on thegenerated documentation.
 18. The method of claim 1, further comprisinggenerating an alert based on the generated documentation.
 19. A systemfor generating documentation comprising: a communications interfacecoupled to a processor and configured to receive an applicationprogramming interface (API) interaction; the processor configured to:receive an API interaction, wherein the configuration to receiveincludes configuration to receive an API request from a user and an APIresponse from an API backend, wherein the API response is generated inresponse to the API request; determine at least one interactionparameter based on the API interaction, wherein the configuration todetermine includes configuration to determine at least one requestparameter and at least one response parameter, and automaticallygenerate documentation based on the at least one interaction parameterthat includes the at least me request parameter and the at least oneresponse parameter, wherein the documentation documents an actionassociated with the API interaction that includes the API request andthe API response.
 20. A computer program product for generatingdocumentation, the computer program product being embodied in anon-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computerinstructions for: receiving an application programming interface (API)interaction, wherein the receiving includes receiving an API requestfrom a user and an API response from an API backend, wherein the APIresponse is generated in response to the API request; determining atleast one interaction parameter based on the API interaction, whereinthe determining includes determining at least one request parameter andat least one response parameter; and automatically generatingdocumentation based on the at least one interaction parameter thatincludes the at least one request parameter and the at least oneresponse parameter, wherein the documentation documents an actionassociated with the API interaction that includes the API request andthe API response.